Category: TSMC

At Computex 2015, ARM launches their new ARM Cordio Radio IP ultra low power Bluetooth LE 4.2. It has an analog RF component, a digital baseband modem component and mbed IoT subsystem running on an ARM Cortex-M3, based around the mbed OS and mbed device server allowing to build a solution around IoT devices and to connect them to the web. The ARM mbed OS runs on ARM Cortex-M devices. ARM is partnering with TSMC using their 55ULP process to dramatically lower the power consumption getting a 40% reduction in dynamic power consumption and a 25% reduction in the leakage.

ARM based processor manufacturers Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) and GlobalFoundries have announced that they plan to release ARM processors capable of running at 3 GHz “sometime next year”.

A new report cites that the game doesn’t end here. Processors clocked as high as 3 GHz are headed our way in 2014. Performance is not all about clock speeds, but if the current 28nm manufactured processors are able to clock in at 2.3 GHz, a process shrink to 20nm, expected to happen early in 2014, will certainly help increase clock speeds while consuming lesser power and die size at the same time.

The new 20nm node at TSMC and GlobalFoundries is expected to offer a 25% decrease in power consumption, allow up to 30% faster clock speeds and up to 1.9 times better transistor density with low leakage. That means more transistors in a lesser die, leading to more powerful processors.

These new products will bring the whole variety of technology devices to the Next Level but it depends on the user if device processor is a key consideration for them.

TSMC plans to make all the way to as small as 7nm processors, they say they have plans to continue overtaking or matching Moore's law for at least 10 more years. TSMC is the worlds largest independent ARM Processor foundry. Here's a video about how TSMC makes the processors of the present and the future, they do them for many of the major ARM chip designers such as Texas Instruments, Nvidia, Qualcomm and others.

While the 45nm process such as the TI OMAP3630 (1ghz), Samsung Humminbird S5PC110 (1ghz) and Apple A4 (1ghz) have all just recently been released in the latest bunch of smart phones such as the Motorola Droid X, Samsung Galaxy S and iPhone 4, 28nm was also just recently announced by Global Foundries to be perfected and sampled this year, now also, here's an announcement by ARM and TSMC working together to accelerate the time to market of the 20nm process designs as well:

TSMC signed up to work with ARM on the 28nm node which is headed toward qualification later this year. ARM will develop IP for at least two 28nm processes: TSMC 28nmHP (high performance, High-K Metal Gate) and 28nmHPL (low power, High-K Metal Gate). But the agreement doesn’t stop there; it commits to work on the 20nm node as well. That’s significant because ARM can begin development work earlier than ever before on a TSMC process. This assures the earliest-possible IP availability to our partners and an easier and faster route to deliver advanced products into the market.